University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Wednesday, January 15
Mobile, AL
7 PM
Southern Miss
8-10,3-3Sun Belt
62
at
75
South Alabama
13-5,5-1Sun Belt
1
2
F
Southern Miss.
33
29
62
South Alabama
42
33
75
Late Comeback Attempt Ends Short at South Alabama for Men's Basketball
1/15/2025 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MOBILE, Ala. – DeAntoni Gordon scored 10 points in his return to his hometown, but it wasn't enough as Southern Miss (8-10, 3-3 Sun Belt) fell 75-62 at South Alabama (13-5, 5-1 Sun Belt) on Wednesday night. The win put the Jaguars in sole possession of first place six games into the Sun Belt slate.
Alfred Worrell Jr. paced Southern Miss in scoring for the second-straight game after a late flurry of three-pointers put him at 13 points. Denijay Harris recorded his third-staright double-double after scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles got another 11 points from Andre Curbelo, who also led Southern Miss with three steals. Southern Miss held the Jaguars to a 36.8 percent shooting clip, but the Jaguars connected on 14 three-pointers.
Southern Miss now heads to Texas State in the second game of its four-game road swing. The Golden Eagles and Bobcats will meet for the second time in a week on Saturday evening in San Marcos, Texas. Tip-off from Strahan Arena in set for 4 p.m. CT.
How it Happened
The Golden Eagle offense came out firing thanks to a pair of made three-pointers from Cobie Montgomery and Christian Watson. South Alabama answered the first one but had no answer for Watson's.
After the quick start, Southern Miss missed 10 of its next 12 shots. Meanwhile, South Alabama hit a similar cold snap and missed nine-straight shots. The Jaguars then hit back-to-back three-pointers ahead of the under-12 media timeout to go ahead 14-10.
The Jaguars managed to score eight of their next 11 points from the charity stripe to keep their advantage hovering around eight. Southern Miss managed to gain success at the free throw line, too. DeAntoni Gordon converted an and-one to make it a five-point game with 6:50 left in the half.
South Alabama went the final 2:44 of the first half without making a field goal but added five points from the free throw line. To their advantage, though, Southern Miss only made two field goals over the final 6:50 of the half. The Jaguars took a 42-33 lead into the locker room.
The Jaguars started the second half with back-to-back three-pointers and a Barry Dunning Jr. slam. Southern Miss quickly called a timeout with the deficit reaching 17 in a hurry. South Alabama kept the pressure up and led by as many as 22 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.
Southern Miss used a 14-3 run – highlighted by two Alfred Worrell Jr. three-pointers – to pull within 11 with 4:37 to play. Dunning Jr. had an answer and started a 6-0 run for Southern Alabama that effectively put the comeback hopes away for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles ultimately fell by 13 points to the league leaders on their home floor. South Alabama moved to 13-5 and 5-1 in Sun Belt action.
Deep Dive into the Numbers
- Southern Miss shot 33.9 percent from the floor and were held under 20 made field goals
- South Alabama's 14 three-pointers are the most by a Golden Eagle opponent this season
- The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Jaguars 41-36, including 10-6 on the offensive glass
- Seven Golden Eagles logged 20+ minutes of playing time
- South Alabama shot 90.5 percent from the free throw line while going 19-for-21
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against South Alabama: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- South Alabama's 14 three-pointers are the most by a Southern Miss opponent this season. The previous high was 13 by Ole Miss on Dec. 14
- South Alabama's win makes the all-time series 27-25 in favor of Southern Miss
- Cobie Montgomery has made at least one three-pointer in each of the last 14 games
- Harris picked up his ninth double-double of the season and third-straight
- Harris had 10+ rebounds for the ninth time this season and for the fourth time in his last five outings
- DeAntoni Gordon finished with 10+ points for the eighth time this season and for the 54th time in his career. He's scored 10+ in three of the last four games
- Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 13 points to put himself in double figures for the third-straight game
Alfred Worrell Jr. paced Southern Miss in scoring for the second-straight game after a late flurry of three-pointers put him at 13 points. Denijay Harris recorded his third-staright double-double after scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles got another 11 points from Andre Curbelo, who also led Southern Miss with three steals. Southern Miss held the Jaguars to a 36.8 percent shooting clip, but the Jaguars connected on 14 three-pointers.
Southern Miss now heads to Texas State in the second game of its four-game road swing. The Golden Eagles and Bobcats will meet for the second time in a week on Saturday evening in San Marcos, Texas. Tip-off from Strahan Arena in set for 4 p.m. CT.
How it Happened
The Golden Eagle offense came out firing thanks to a pair of made three-pointers from Cobie Montgomery and Christian Watson. South Alabama answered the first one but had no answer for Watson's.
After the quick start, Southern Miss missed 10 of its next 12 shots. Meanwhile, South Alabama hit a similar cold snap and missed nine-straight shots. The Jaguars then hit back-to-back three-pointers ahead of the under-12 media timeout to go ahead 14-10.
The Jaguars managed to score eight of their next 11 points from the charity stripe to keep their advantage hovering around eight. Southern Miss managed to gain success at the free throw line, too. DeAntoni Gordon converted an and-one to make it a five-point game with 6:50 left in the half.
South Alabama went the final 2:44 of the first half without making a field goal but added five points from the free throw line. To their advantage, though, Southern Miss only made two field goals over the final 6:50 of the half. The Jaguars took a 42-33 lead into the locker room.
The Jaguars started the second half with back-to-back three-pointers and a Barry Dunning Jr. slam. Southern Miss quickly called a timeout with the deficit reaching 17 in a hurry. South Alabama kept the pressure up and led by as many as 22 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.
Southern Miss used a 14-3 run – highlighted by two Alfred Worrell Jr. three-pointers – to pull within 11 with 4:37 to play. Dunning Jr. had an answer and started a 6-0 run for Southern Alabama that effectively put the comeback hopes away for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles ultimately fell by 13 points to the league leaders on their home floor. South Alabama moved to 13-5 and 5-1 in Sun Belt action.
Deep Dive into the Numbers
- Southern Miss shot 33.9 percent from the floor and were held under 20 made field goals
- South Alabama's 14 three-pointers are the most by a Golden Eagle opponent this season
- The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Jaguars 41-36, including 10-6 on the offensive glass
- Seven Golden Eagles logged 20+ minutes of playing time
- South Alabama shot 90.5 percent from the free throw line while going 19-for-21
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against South Alabama: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- South Alabama's 14 three-pointers are the most by a Southern Miss opponent this season. The previous high was 13 by Ole Miss on Dec. 14
- South Alabama's win makes the all-time series 27-25 in favor of Southern Miss
- Cobie Montgomery has made at least one three-pointer in each of the last 14 games
- Harris picked up his ninth double-double of the season and third-straight
- Harris had 10+ rebounds for the ninth time this season and for the fourth time in his last five outings
- DeAntoni Gordon finished with 10+ points for the eighth time this season and for the 54th time in his career. He's scored 10+ in three of the last four games
- Alfred Worrell Jr. scored 13 points to put himself in double figures for the third-straight game
Team Stats
USM
USA
FG%
.339
.368
3FG%
.235
.359
FT%
.727
.905
RB
41
36
TO
14
10
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
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